Overview

As announced recently, the Merrell Barefoot shoe line has officially launched. Prior to the official launch of Merrell Barefoot, I was fortunate enough to receive an advance pair of the men's Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves ("MBTG," "Trail Gloves," or simply "Merrell Barefoots," for brusk). Below I'll talk in detail almost my experiences thus far with the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves, as well as share a lot of up close and personal photos. But earlier I exercise, hither'south the review in short: Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves are before long my overall favorite mono-toed minimalist shoes. They are solid, "foot friendly" barefoot running trail shoes. They can be worn barefoot or with socks, provide reasonably good basis feel, are neutral from heel to toe, have an upsized toe box for toe splaying (pic), and actually look pretty adept if you're up for wearing them for more everyday purposes.

That's the gist, anyway; more than after the jump!

Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove Sole

Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves are congenital upon a Vibram-designed sole. The sole, while non having v separated toes like the KSO Trek, is reminiscent of the Trek in that the end of the sole has four ridged, implied "toes" (see pic at right). These ridges provide some added traction — particularly when ascending steep uphill climbs on the trail. Elsewhere on the sole you lot've got some decent knobbing that lends to overall traction on the trail. Since the sole is made by Vibram, and ssuming yous're running class is efficient, which is to say that information technology minimizes friction, you could probably expect these soles to terminal quite a long time. I've worn my Trail Gloves a good bit for walking, some road running, and trail running over the past ii months; thus far, the soles show no appreciable habiliment.

The Merrell Barefoots are zip-drib shoes meaning the heel is not elevated. My handy calipers measure the forefoot thickness at a smidge over 10mm — same at the heel. For reference, my KSO Treks are more than effectually 8-9mm. Compare the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves' naught-drop to the NB Minimus Trail, which has a 4mm heel-to-toe drop and is overall a fleck thicker-soled at 15mm or so at the heel (The New Balance NB Minimus Trail is slated for release in March 2011).

Above the Vibram rubber of the Merrell Barefoots, there is a 4mm EVA midsole — similar to the FiveFingers KSO Trek. Iv millimeters really isn't much and when I attempt to compression the midsole, it'southward difficult to practice (lots of resistance). Of form, the rubber sole and EVA midsole nevertheless results in less ground feel. Since I'thousand comparing, I'd put the Merrell Barefoots' ground feel somewhere between the KSO Trek and the NB Minimus Trail.

The Trail Gloves also characteristic a 1mm forefoot daze assimilation plate (I'g assuming the EVA midsole is only 3mm here and/or the rubber sole is thinner to proceed the shoe neutral heel to toe). When I grab the Trail Gloves and flex them at the forefoot, they are a good bit more rigid than my KSO Treks, significant they resist flex a lot more the KSO Treks and rebound with more force when you "permit go" of the bend. My subjective observation is that the MBTGs are too more rigid at the forefoot than the NB Minimus Trail, but it's a shut phone call.

The Trail Gloves lack an overall rigidity to them from heel to toe meaning they are easy to fold in half at the arch and twist pretty well in hand — ameliorate than the NB Minimus Trails or Vivo Barefoot Evo IIs/Aquas/Oaks, which are overall more rigid in the sole than the MBTGs (though the Vivo Barefoots all afford slightly more footing feel sans insoles).

Information technology's besides worth noting that this twistability comes somewhat from the narrowing of the sole at the arch (pic). The Five Fingers KSO Treks (read my review here) nevertheless win easily down on overall flexibility, merely that's not altogether surprising — the more a shoe is molded to the human foot, the more it must be designed for flexibility. Comparatively, "platform" style shoes can exist more rigid in the sole as the foot isn't and so locked onto to the sole. Ah the complex subtleties, nuances, and considerations in designing "barefoot shoes!"

Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove Upper

The Merrell Trail Glove upper is mesh on the exterior with a "fused safe toe bumper" that wraps the finish of each shoe. The mesh upper in the toe box area lacks structure, which allows the shoe to flex overall and toe wiggling feels unrestricted within the Trail Gloves.

And what about that toe box? Every bit y'all'd expect, Merrell went with a wider toe box to let your toes to splay naturally. The flipside design consideration on a wide toe box is that if information technology's too wide, your foot can feel like information technology'due south "pond" within the shoe. Merrell has tackled this trouble by making the Trail Gloves snug around the widest function of the human foot — not completely unlike the approach used with the NB Minimus Trails that employ a rubberized band to lock your foot onto the shoe, while nonetheless allowing your toes to play inside the big toe box. I really prefer Merrell'southward less restrictive approach on this front end, though I've constitute that the overall "snug fit" around the midfoot makes it a little more than difficult to go the shoes on when wearing them with socks.

The Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves tin can exist worn barefoot (without socks) and I prefer wearing them this way. Here'south my attempt at a photo of the inside of the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves. Merrell designed the Trail Gloves without a removable insole and the only noticeable seam on the inside is where the tongue ends. This bothered me maybe the get-go two times I wore the shoes but has since faded in feel — chalk it upwardly to breaking the MBTGs in.

Thankfully, the Trail Gloves are designed with barefoot habiliment in mind. Socks can exist worn, and I fifty-fifty doubled up on socks once in them when Atlanta got the snow/water ice lockdown back in January. My feet stayed reasonably warm in this instance. Similar any shoe with a minimal sole, y'all're just going to get then much insulation from the frigid ground. Of class, the Trail Gloves are more like foot mittens in the sense that toes that stay together, stay warmer together!

The MBTGs lacing system is pretty slick! Every bit far as laces get, Merrell's "Omni-Fit" lacing technology (pic) is pretty easy to adjust. Good thing, too, as the same midfoot snugness means you'll have to loosen the laces prior to putting on the Trail Gloves. My only complaint about the lacing system every bit information technology matches to the design of the shoe with regard to what I'm calling "midfoot snugness" is that I wish you lot could expand the overall width of the shoe more at the midfoot point. The narrowness immediately prior to the toe-box is just so adjustable and when I wear socks with the Trail Gloves, I find this narrowness acts similar a bottleneck and my socks go pulled backwards every bit I ram my foot past the bottleneck. The tightness of the socks that results commonly subsides quick enough, but it's a nuisance that is worth mentioning.

Aesthetics

I confess that on seeing the online photos of the Trail Gloves, I wasn't immediately enamored with the aesthetics — they seemed a chip plain. Withal, on seeing the Trail Gloves in person and on my feet, I actually appreciate their understated demeanor and have enjoyed wearing them with jeans casually. I tin can't expect to get a pair of the Tough Glove varietal, either, as the leather gives a clean, expensive look to the Merrell Barefoots that should brand them laissez passer pretty well in a business coincidental environs (TBD!).

Meanwhile, if you're tired of people staring at your anxiety when running in Vibrams, accept heart: no one who sees you running in the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves will take a inkling they are barefoot shoes! This was tested recently on a run with Mrs. BirthdayShoes who was wearing Classics and drawing attention from passers-past: it was kinda foreign to me to not accept people notice my feet for once. Healthy feet travelling incognito. Nice.

Merrell Trail Glove Functioning

The Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves performed admirably on the trail, meaning my ground felt consistent and assured on both steep ascensions and racing downhill. Basis experience was good enough to still want to avoid rocky or rooty protrusions while still providing some protection against them. Because the Trail Gloves are slightly looser at the forefoot than the banded NB Minimus Trails, I noticed my pes would elevator off the sole of the shoe a chip more in all running conditions — heed the tightness of the NB Minimus Trails fixes this upshot while besides putting a lot of pressure on your foot, which could crusade issues over the long-term. For the Merrell Barefoot Trail Glvoes, this is a minor nuisance that could potentially exist corrected past tightening the shoes more via the lacing mechanism.

For general utilise, I similar the Trail Gloves. The lugged soles are potent enough that they don't feel foreign when wearing them on concrete or asphalt. I actually may similar road running in the Trial Gloves better than in the KSO Treks though I confess I haven't done a adjacent comparing between the 2. As has been discussed earlier, I'thousand no long distance runner and my grade lends itself to knee problems unless I go the full monty. That said, the Trail Gloves weren't so much shoe as to crusade genu issues out the gate for me — I assume this is due to their neutral heel-to-toe design or perhaps their overall lack of cushioning in the soles. Whatever it is, I have enjoyed running in the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves.

I also enjoy walking in the Trail Gloves. As having everyday, non-five-toed shoes that are foot friendly is a existent problem for many of us, I also evaluated the Trail Gloves for employ in casual awarding. I'1000 happy to written report they function well in this regard: my gait is relatively unchanged by wearing the Trail Gloves (as opposed to barefoot gait). This is another reason I'm eager to catch some Tough Gloves for work wear!

Conclusions

First off, a annotation on sizing. I'm a size x.5 and accept been wearing a size xi. These seem to fit me fine. All the same, Britt got a size 10 for his size 9.5 feet and they felt much too large, so he's working on sizing downward to 9. Initial experiences with sizing seem to be a bit all over the map, then I hesitate to brand an overall recommendation here. Too, I've got at least one study of the Trail Gloves beingness a bit uncomfortable at the midfoot (snugness) for one person with wide feet. If you've got less average anxiety (my feet are fairly boilerplate, I guess), just like with Vibram FiveFingers, I encourage you to effort on a pair in person if possible!

I'1000 really liking my Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves and recommend them as a solid contender amongst the emerging options in the minimalist footwear category — they are certainly top of listen in the non-5 toed shoes category! That said, it's of import to go along in mind that every foot is different simply as every person is different — there's a good reason for the platitude "if the shoe fits, habiliment it!"

Just don't just accept my word for it that Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves are a bully addition to the minimalist footwear category. Jason Robillard, barefoot running coach, author of The Barefoot Running Book, and ultramarathon runner, had this to say virtually his exhaustive testing of the Trail Gloves:

Within the outset few miles of the first run, I knew these shoes were special. The weirdness of those first few steps disappeared. On trails, the shoes performed flawlessly. Over the next three months, I tested these shoes in every conceivable environment. I ran an PRed a 5k on roads (ALGER HEIGHTS 5K in K Rapids, MI; 19:12), run a 50k in 20° weather (HUFF 50K in Huntington, IN), did a 30 MILE TRAINING RUN IN TERRIBLE SNOWY TRAIL CONDITIONS, and did a 20 mile road run. Between these runs I've had endless shorter runs of varying distances on asphalt, sand, mud, leaf-covered technical tails, gravel, and everything in between.

The determination- no shoe has come closer to minimalist perfection.

Going frontwards, I'd like to hear from other Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove wearers (or Pace Glove for the ladies — and there are a lot of other Merrell Barefoot options, as well!) and post experiences and user stories here on the weblog. After all, it's the community of barefoot-minded people who brand BirthdayShoes a nifty place to visit, so if you lot're testing out Merrell Barefoots and have some experiences and photos to share on them, please email u.s.!

Pricing, Availability

Looking to purchase Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves? Merrell Barefoot shoes have been released into the wild for buy and if you're looking to snag a pair, here are a few online retailers carrying the Trail Gloves (The Trail Gloves run virtually $110) as well as other Merrell Barefoot models (reviews pending):

  • Travel Country — Men's Trail Glove, Women's Step Glove, Men'south True Glove, Women'due south Pure Glove, Men'south Tough Glove (leather)
  • The Shoe Mart — Men'southward Trail Glove, Women's Step Glove
  • REI — Men's Trail Glove, Women'southward Pace Glove
  • Rock/Creek — Men's Trail Glove, Women's Stride Glove
  • Kayak Shed — Men's Trail Glove, Women's Footstep Glove, Men's True Glove, Women's Pure Glove

Per Merrell, the fit on the Barefoots is running about ½ size big (I'm wearing 10s and usually fit a 10.5 — I also wear size 43 VFFs).

Photos of the Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove

Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove — Official-ish Product Details

Less is definitely more exploring with our Vibram®-soled Trail Glove natural run a risk shoe. All the protection your feet demand from rocks and roots, and an ultra-lightweight upper with a constructed leather foot sling for stability fits like a glove.

UPPER/LINING
• Microfiber and breathable air mesh upper
• Merrell Omni-Fit™ lacing arrangement secured with welded TPU provides a precise, glove-like fit
• Fused rubber toe bumper provides ultimate immovability
• Synthetic leather rear foot sling provides stability
• Flexible plate in the forefoot protects the foot from stone bruises
• Non-removable microfiber footbed treated with Aegis® antimicrobial solution resists odor

MIDSOLE/OUTSOLE
• 4mm pinch molded EVA midsole cushions
• 1mm forefoot stupor assimilation plate maintains forefoot flexibility and protects the foot by distributing pressure
• 0mm ball to heel drib keeps you connected to your terrain
• Launder as needed in cold water, gentle bicycle and air dry
• Vibram® Trail Glove Sole/ Rubber Chemical compound TC-1

Men's Weight: half-dozen.ii ozs / 175.viii gm (one/ii pair)